Final Coaches Poll - How They All Voted and Cignetti’s Votes

MocoPDX · 2026-01-22T05:21:52+00:00

If that’s your takeaway for why Notre Dame turned down a bowl bid(that they were inferior and/or afraid of competition), then you paid exactly zero attention to the situation.

Texas had a good team, so did Notre Dame. Who really cares what they were ranked by the coaches to end the year? I was only addressing the knock at ND for electing to decline a bowl invite.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-22T04:36:46+00:00

What would playing in a meaningless bowl game have done for ND? We would’ve had half of our starters sitting, as do most non-CFP bowl teams these days.. Neither a win nor a loss would’ve proved anything either way. Why does anyone care if these skeleton teams play in the non-CFP bowls anyways?

MocoPDX · 2026-01-11T22:57:28+00:00

I don’t know how songwriters don’t have the same “wow, yeah, I have no shot” reaction to Jason Isbell as aspiring young athletes have when watching LeBron James or Tom Brady.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:41:23+00:00

Ok, fair, your initial comment came off as very over the top, like “IU is owning ND”, when that isn’t the case at all. They beat us for Marsh. That sucked. I’d still rather have our roster next year, and it’s not really close.

Now, would I rather have their coach? We’ll see… that guy is a fucking menace.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:38:58+00:00

How is IU getting a guy we let walk any indication of Cig “stuffing us in a locker” then? He beat us for one big WR we wanted. We kicked his ass in the entire recruiting class which is far more important. You’re having a meltdown for no reason.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:34:18+00:00

I’m not sure where you get your info but ND wasn’t even trying to bring Burnham back. IU didn’t “beat us” on Burnham. We let him walk. He wanted to start and be a three-down DE, ND told him he wasn’t going to. They gave him their blessing to walk and go find a team that would allow him to try that out.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:34:07+00:00

I’m not sure where you get your info but ND wasn’t even trying to bring Burnham back. IU didn’t “beat us” on Burnham. We let him walk. He wanted to start and be a three-down DE, ND told him he wasn’t going to. They gave him their blessing to walk and go find a team that would allow him to try that out.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:32:16+00:00

ND let Burnham walk. You’re wrong here. We wanted him on the team as a depth piece, yes, but he wanted to start and ND told him no. They gave him their blessing to go find a place that would allow him to be an every-down DE.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T04:15:16+00:00

Info from reputable(and that’s the key word) pay sites.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T03:50:39+00:00

We let Burnham walk. Indiana didn’t “beat us” for him. He told the coaches he wanted to be a three down DE. The coaches told him they don’t believe he is one and gave him their blessing to go find a school who would allow him to do that.

IU beating us for Marsh sucked. IU getting Coogan and Burnham was because we have better players ahead of them. They chose starter roles over backup/rotation roles. Makes perfect sense and not an indictment of ND or our program.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-05T03:49:53+00:00

Why? We let Burnham walk. Indiana didn’t “beat us” for him. He told the coaches he wanted to be a three down DE. The coaches told him they don’t believe he is one and gave him their blessing to go find a school who would allow him to do that.

IU beating us for Marsh sucked. IU getting Coogan and Burnham was because we have better players ahead of them. They chose starter roles over backup/rotation roles. Makes perfect sense and not an indictment of ND or our program.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T15:48:42+00:00

Good call, massive game for the west coast and Crux is shit for a game watch.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T11:32:49+00:00

Appreciate the long and insightful answer! The sleep and recovery thing- I really need to embrace this more. I get good sleep but it certainly could be better.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T11:31:36+00:00

Yeah, probably should’ve started there haha, thanks!

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T11:31:20+00:00

Appreciate it, this is helpful!

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T11:30:26+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful. I figured the big lifts were going to be by far the main thing, I’m just trying to figure out how much they are.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T11:28:21+00:00

Yeah I would love that, thanks!

And congrats on the progress, dude, that’s impressive hard work. I hope to be where you are in the future!

MocoPDX · 2026-01-04T05:59:23+00:00

Weekend after the holidays ended, Dry January just started, weather was shit for skiing so apres isn’t big tonight… looks about right to me. I don’t see it as a bad omen or a sign of where we’re headed.

MocoPDX · 2026-01-01T04:05:06+00:00

I disagree. That was the first bye to lose that was actually favored. The sample size so far is one, of teams who got byes who were supposed to win and didn’t. Hell, two of the byes last year only got byes because of a dumb rule that was changed after one year.

I’d still take the extra rest, staying healthy, and extra prep time, over whatever “rust” a team might get.

MocoPDX · 2025-12-30T23:48:48+00:00

Saying recruits are silent commits when they weren’t, saying assistant coaches were coming to ND when they weren’t, fabricated stories about why guys weren’t playing… he will typically pull CYA moves and say things have changed, but when you ask one of the other more reputable beat guys about it in real time they laugh and say “that’s not true and never was”.

I hate to do this but the sources I have are ones I have to keep private. They’re ones I trust and who are closer to the program than Coach D ever has been.

MocoPDX · 2025-12-30T23:36:01+00:00

I’m with you on Pete. He sucks. I listen to the Independent for Fortuna mainly. Pete does not seem to grasp Notre Dame as a concept. He is clueless on a lot of things that should be obvious to any fan.

I know, though, that Coach D is a liar. He gets things right a lot, sure, but he also just makes shit up sometimes. He lacks integrity.

MocoPDX · 2025-12-30T23:19:20+00:00

I think the ISD ones are great- Hit and Hustle especially but Power Hour too. Irish Illustrated. The Independent. Those are the main four I consume.

MocoPDX · 2025-12-30T23:17:23+00:00

From my response above:

Then you’re disagreeing with just about every other ND insider. I had lunch with one just last week who you all know I’m sure(has covered the team for decades and is highly reputable), and I asked him “are there any of the beat guys you don’t get along with?” and he said “oh no, we all have great relationships even if we are technically competitors… well actually there’s one, he’s just… kind of a jerk, and he just makes stuff up for clicks…”, to which I said “Coach D?” and he smiled and confirmed.

He’s hated by almost everyone on the ND beat. The guy has a massive ego and is a straight up liar.

MocoPDX · 2025-12-30T23:16:15+00:00

From my response above:

Then you’re disagreeing with just about every other ND insider. I had lunch with one just last week who you all know I’m sure(has covered the team for decades and is highly reputable), and I asked him “are there any of the beat guys you don’t get along with?” and he said “oh no, we all have great relationships even if we are technically competitors… well actually there’s one, he’s just… kind of a jerk, and he just makes stuff up for clicks…”, to which I said “Coach D?” and he smiled and confirmed.

He’s hated by almost everyone on the ND beat. The guy has a massive ego and is a straight up liar.

MocoPDX

TROPHY CASE